The Search For Peace
Before we get into today’s message, I want to remind you that our Christmas Eve Candlelight service is only a few weeks away. Christmas Eve is a time when people are more open to attending, including skeptics, and so we want you to start thinking of a few people you can invite to attend our Christmas Eve Candlelight service. We want you to take the invite cards on your seats and start inviting some friends and family. You can share those invite cards on social media, take a picture and send a text invite to people, or just invite them in person. Remember it’s invitations that leads to transformations, so let’s invite, and let’s pray for those we invite. Let’s keep reaching people and reaching the world with the life-transforming message of Jesus.
Now as for today, we’re continuing our teaching series called The Savior We Need, and it’s about why Jesus is the savior we’re searching for. The reality is both skeptics and believers are often searching for things like hope, peace, joy, and love. Well the Christmas season is a reminder that all those things can be found in the arrival of Jesus, in the incarnate birth of the Savior. In fact the word Advent means to arrive or to come, and each candle we light on the Advent Wreath symbolizes the different gifts Jesus came to give us with his arrival. Last week Robbie talked about how the 1stcandle represents the gift of hope, and this week we’re talking about how the 2nd candle represents the gift of peace, which is something we’re all searching for in life. Some of us want peace in our marriage or family...Some of us want peace in our career or finances...Some of us want peace in life today, as we’re facing the worries, problems, and uncertainty of life tomorrow... We’re all searching for peace in life, and the Christmas story is all about how Jesus came to give us the gift of peace. He came to give us the gift of peace that we’re all searching for, and that’s what we’re talking about today. So let’s turn to Luke Ch. 2 and get into it. If you open your bible to the middle and keep turning right you’ll find Luke. We’ll be in Luke 2:8-20, and the title of the message is The Search for Peace. The big idea of the message is Jesus gives us peace with God, before he gives us peace in life...Jesus gives us peace with God, before he gives us peace in life...
Here’s your context. At this point in history Israel is under Roman rule, so the person who appears to have the power to bring peace to that region is Caesar Augustus. But it’s really Jesus who has the power to bring peace to that region, and in Luke Ch. 2 his birth is announced to some shepherds who are watching over their flock at night. Now as we study this text we’ll learn about: 1st The Promise of Peace, 2nd The Pathway to Peace, and 3rd The Practical Application of Peace. We’ll learn about The Promise, The Pathway, and The Practical, so let’s check it out.
Luke 2:8-20 states, “In the same region, shepherds were staying in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid, for I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Notice the angel is declaring good news, and it’s that a Savior was born. It isn’t that another religious teacher, therapist, or life coach was born. It’s that a Savior was born, and his name is Jesus. But what makes Jesus so much greater than all other saviors, is that he’s both the Messiah and the Lord. He’s the Messiah, which means anointed savior, and he’s the Lord, which means he’s God. He’s our fully human, fully divine, God incarnate, Savior, Messiah, Lord who chose to be born in our world, come close to his creation, and die on the cross for the sins of his creation. So this mean whenever we feel like we can’t approach God, we need to remember God was willing to approach us. Whenever we feel like our life is a mess, we need to remember God was willing to step into our mess. We need to remember this is good news, because having a relationship with Jesus is greater than any other relationship we could ever have. It’s a relationship with a real living Savior, Messiah, Lord. It's a relationship with God, and he came to give us the gift of peace, which the angel mentions next.
Again vs. 11, “ Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be the sign for you: You’ll find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth lying in a manger.’ 13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!’” What we’re learning about here is #1 The Promise of Peace. We’re learning about the promise of peace on earth. But what does that mean?...What does it mean that Jesus came to give us the gift of peace on earth?...It means Jesus came into the world to give us peace with God. He came to bridge the sin gap that exists between us and God. He came to die for our sins on the cross so we can enjoy peace on earth with God, and eternal peace in heaven with God. It’s like it says in the old Christmas hymn Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: The first few verses say, “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” That’s what Christmas is declaring! Christmas is all about the declaration that our sins prevent us from getting to God in heaven, but the good news is God decided to come down to us on earth. So the promise of peace starts vertically with God, before it starts flowing horizontally in our lives. It starts with Jesus giving us peace with God, before he gives us peace in life. He gives us peace with God, before he gives us peace in our circumstances.
Now some of you might be like, “Well why do we still experience things like wars and worries? I mean if Jesus came to bring us peace on earth, then it seems like his promise is failing because we still have a lot of wars and worries.” It’s a great question, but it’s a misunderstanding of the promise and kind of peace Jesus came to give us. The promise isn’t about us having peace on earth from wars and worries, it’s about Jesus coming to give us peace on earth with God. This is humanity's greatest need for peace, because we’re considered enemies of God without this peace. Our sins put us at war with God until we receive the peace of God through faith in Christ. So we need to be clear that the peace Jesus came to give us is peace with God, not peace from wars and worries. But another reason we still experience things like wars and worries instead of peace on earth, is because skeptics are rejecting God’s hand of peace, and believers aren’t always living out God’s peace. The issue isn’t with the promise; it’s with us being sinful people. The issue isn’t with the promise of God’s peace on earth, it’s with us either rejecting or not living out God’s peace on earth as we should. It’s like G.K. Chesterton said when a reporter asked him what’s wrong with the world? Chesterton said, “What’s wrong with the world? I am! Yours truly, G.K. Chesterton.”
Vs. 15, “ When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ 16 They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.” Okay so we just learned about The Promise of Peace, which is peace on earth with God, and eternal peace in heaven with God. But now we’re learning about #2 The Pathway to Peace. We’re learning about the pathway to peace, which comes from the baby lying in the manager. The pathway to peace comes from Jesus. In fact Jesus states in John 10:9-10, “I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved…and he will find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come so that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus says he’s the gate, meaning he’s the pathway to eternal salvation, peaceful pastures, and an abundantly joyful life. So if you want to have eternal salvation, peaceful pastures, and an abundantly joyful life, then you have to receive the baby lying in the manger. You have to receive Jesus as your Savior, your Messiah, your Lord, like the shepherds did. The shepherds didn’t just hear the good news about the promise of peace; they wanted to receive the promise of peace. The reason they went to see Jesus is because they wanted to receive the promise of peace with God for their own lives.
This is important because it’s teaching us that the pathway to peace comes from a person, not a proverb...The pathway to peace comes from a person, not a wise proverb or teaching...In vs. 10 the angel came declaring good news, not good advice. If you’re searching for peace and you’re thinking some good advice can give you that peace, then you’ll never have peace. You’ll never have peace in life because you’ll eventually fail to live out all the good advice you receive.C.S. Lewis states, “There’s been no lack of good advice for the last 4000 years. A bit more wouldn’t have made any difference...We’ve never followed the advice of the great teachers, so why would we be more likely to follow Jesus over any others? Because he’s the best moral teacher? That makes it even less likely to follow, because if we can’t follow the elementary lessons, how are we to follow the most advanced ones? If Christianity only means one more bit of good advice, then Christianity is of no importance.” The reason C.S. Lewis says it’s of no importance is because we’ll eventually fail to live out all the good advice Jesus gives us, just like we fail to live out all the elementary advice we’ve been given. So the pathway to peace can’t come from good advice, since we’ll eventually fail to live out that good advice. The pathway to peace has to come from a person, not a proverb. The pathway to eternal salvation, peaceful pastures, and an abundantly joyful life comes from putting your faith in Jesus as your Savior, and trusting him with your daily circumstances as your Lord. It comes from spending time with Jesus, like the shepherds did.
Vs. 17, “After seeing them, they reported the message about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.” So we’ve learned about The Promise of Peace, The Pathway to Peace, and now we’re learning about #3 The Practical Application of Peace. I think there are two practical applications of peace that we’re learning about here. The 1st application is we need to share this peace with others. What we’re learning is the shepherds didn’t just receive the peace of Jesus for their lives and do nothing with it. Instead they started applying it to their lives by reporting the message of Jesus to others. The peace they received became a peace they shared. It’s a great application for believers, and a great reminder for us to share our Christmas Eve invite cards with others. It’s because the peace we’ve received from Jesus is meant to be shared with others like the shepherds did. If you had the cure to cancer, you’d share it to save people from cancer. So what’s stopping you from sharing Jesus with people, when he’s given you the cure to save people’s souls and give them peace on earth?
The 2nd application is we need to treasure Jesus in our hearts. We need to treasure Jesus in our hearts like Mary did, and like the shepherds were doing. We know the shepherds were treasuring Jesus in their hearts too, because vs. 20 says they were still glorifying and praising God even after they returned to the daily grind of watching over their flock. This is what happens when we start treasuring Jesus in our hearts more than anything else. We start glorifying and praising God even in the daily grind. We start experiencing more peace in daily life, because we realize no matter what happens throughout the day, we still have Jesus as our greatest treasure. So many of us aren’t at peace in life because we’re treasuring something else more than Jesus. We’re treasuring our spouse, our family, our wealth, our careers, and when those things eventually disappoint us, we lose our peace. But you’ll still have peace in life if Jesus is a greater treasure than those things. If you aren’t at peace in life, it’s a clue that you’re treasuring something else more than Jesus. The issue is we’re often thinking about what our lives might be like if we had something else in our life, or if we did something else with our life someplace else. We’re often thinking about how the grass might be greener on a different pasture. But the key to having peace in life is to treasure Jesus where you are, instead of coveting and treasuring something else or someplace else where you aren’t. You can’t treasure and serve Jesus where you aren’t, so treasure and serve Jesus where you are...You can’t treasure and serve Jesus where you aren’t, so treasure and serve Jesus where you are, like Mary and the shepherds did. The more you do that, the more you’ll have peace in life.
The big idea of the message is Jesus gives us peace with God, before he gives us peace in life...Jesus came to give us the gift of peace with God, before he gives us peace in life...So many of us are searching for peace in life. We want peace in our marriage, peace in our family, peace in our career, peace in our finances, and the list goes on. Jesus can certainly give us peace in those areas of our lives, but that isn’t the primary reason why Jesus came. The primary reason why Jesus came was to give us the gift of peace on earth with God, and eternal peace in heaven with God. So you have to start with receiving and treasuring the primary gift Jesus came to give you, which is peace with God, before you can really start to enjoy the secondary peace he can give you in life.
For those of you who are skeptics, what if the missing puzzle piece in your life isn’t a new relationship, more wealth, a different career, or whatever else you’re trying to find peace in?...What if the missing puzzle piece in your life is Jesus?...If you put your faith in him today, then you’ll have peace on earth and eternal peace in heaven with him...For those of you who are believers, you already have peace with Jesus, so why are you letting lesser treasures rob you of peace?...You already have the greatest treasure you could ever have in Jesus, so why are you letting lesser treasures rob you of peace in life?...C.S. Lewis states, “God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it wouldn’t run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Him. He is the fuel that our spirits were designed to burn, the food that our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other.” He’s saying the only way to have eternal peace in life, is to let your soul be fueled by the eternal God who created your life. It’s to treasure Jesus above everything else. The more you treasure Jesus and walk with Jesus through daily life, the more peace you’ll have in daily life. The search for peace, is found in Jesus.
Communion
Communion is a reminder that Jesus is our incarnate God who came to die for our sins on the cross, so we can have peace on earth with him, and enjoy an eternal relationship with him. If you don’t believe he died for your sins, if you haven’t put your faith in him, then please refrain from participating in communion so you don’t go through the motions of this. Instead use this time to reflect on the message and consider receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior so you can have peace with him...If you’ve already put your faith in Jesus, we have three stations set up, and in a few minutes I’ll invite you to go to the station closest to you. If you have a gluten allergy the table in the back has gluten free bread. When you come forward we’ll give you a piece of bread as a symbol of the body of Christ broken for your sins, and you’ll dip it in the cup of juice as a symbol of the blood of Christ shed for your sins. After that you can eat, drink, and head back to your seat to pray before we close in worship. Let’s prepare to remember and receive the good news of Jesus.
On the night Jesus was betrayed he took the bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it saying “This is my body which is to be broken for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” When supper ended he took the cup, blessed it, gave thanks for it saying “This is a symbol of my blood which is to be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done.” Let’s respond to this good news by remembering and receiving. Let’s remember what Jesus did for us on the cross, and let’s receive his grace and peace for our life again. Come as you feel led...